Breaking Me Again
by SerendipitousEncounters
Summary: Maxie is surprised when a ghost from her past abruptly enters her life again-M&M/3M Triangle
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story has been rolling around in my head for awhile now. Enjoy...**

* * *

After nearly three years, Port Charles had drastically changed; it was hardly recognizable from the interstate. Mob violence had really taken a toll on the city. Newer buildings were in the place of ones that had been burned to the ground, while some were skeletal remains left untouched. If Cooper Barrett had the choice, he would not even be within one hundred miles of this place; after all he was just a phantom to all the residents.

Coop had settled down in a shabby motel room right off the highway at the edge of town. His room looked as if it hadn't been redecorated since the 60s, the wallpaper was pealing off the wall and the appliances in the kitchenette were practically relics. At least there was a decent coffee machine that made a semi-respectable cup of joe. He sat down at the small table in his room thumbing through the file labeled "Jerry Jacks."

In the file it listed all known aliases used by Jerry: James Craig, James Bronsan, and Mr. Monreau. The case had been closed since November 2008, but after the LAX airport surveillance cameras had filmed the presumed dead man boarding a plane to New York, the government had reopened the case, which meant Coop had to revisit a past that he was forced to leave behind.

Coop rubbed his temple, as he looked at every piece of information available on Jerry Jacks.

"What are you up to now, Craig?" he asked aloud then took of sip of the mediocre coffee.

* * *

"Oh my god!" Maxie said almost breathless, eyes wide staring at the necklace lying in a large jewelry box in Kate's hands. There was an enormous oval blue sapphire surrounded by dozens of smaller diamonds forming an upside down teardrop shape. The pendant was attached to a diamond-studded necklace in a platinum setting. "That has to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

Kate snapped the box close. "The people at Harry Winston were kind enough to loan it to us for the cover of our September issue. The sapphire is 47.41 carats and there are 116 flawless diamonds. I'm putting this under your care, I know you are an editor now, and no longer my assistant, but I trust you more than that new girl."

"Naomi." Maxie corrected. She felt kind of bad for the new assistant, she was the sixth one this year. Kate went through assistants faster than you can say haute couture.

"Naomi, that's right," Kate responded, "Anyway, I need you to take this to Marty so that you can put it in the safe. I do not want this to leave your hands until it is in there, do you hear me? If there is so much as one microscopic scratch on this, we are **both** dead women."

Maxie nodded her head, "I understand. We are too chic to die anyway."

"Good," she smiled as she handed the box to Maxie.

"I will guard it with my life," she joked as she clutched the box to her chest.

Maxie left Kate's office and headed to the elevator.

Right as Maxie was about to knock on the door to the General Manager's office, it swung open and Marty was on the other side.

"Kate told me you were on your way down here," he said as he motioned her into his office.

"I have precious cargo that needs a safe resting place."

"So I've been told. Come on, I'll take you into the vault."

Marty guided her to the colossal metal door, he entered a code and turned the large dial to open the door. Maxie took in a deep breath as the door inched open. It was nothing like she remembered. The hotel had upgraded their security after the hostage crisis in 2007; there was no trace of the room where she was locked up with a masked stranger. It seemed colder. The room was steel from top to bottom. Instead of the black boxes that had previously held the hotel patrons' treasures there were various sizes of doors and drawers lining the walls, each one had a keypad on it. It looked very high-tech to Maxie, like what you see in the movies. She followed Marty into the vault, the past two years melted away and suddenly she was staring into the eyes of a ghost.

"_Obviously it was stupid of me to take off your mask. But look at it from my point of view, I've been stuck in here with you for hours not knowing what you look like, and it was driving me crazy." Maxie said with her back pressed up against the wall with Three's mask in her hand._

"_If I let you live you can I.D. me," Three gritted through his teeth aiming his gun at the petite blonde._

"_No I won't. I promise," she tried to assure him._

"_And I'm just suppose to trust you on that?"_

"_Look, you didn't expect any of this right? You took this job thinking it was going to last five minutes and pay you a million dollars. You didn't think of what you would have to do for that money," she paused searching his eyes, "If you kill me, that's murder. And that ruins the rest of your life, you don't want that right?" she asked, almost afraid of what his answer would be. After a moment of silence that seemed like an eternity to Maxie, he finally replied._

"_You're right," he said and walked over to the other end of the vault and lowered himself to the ground, "I didn't think this through. That's the problem with me."_

"_Yah, me too," Maxie exhaled, " Obviously, or I wouldn't have taken your mask off."_

"_You mean that, or are you just playing me?" _

"_A little of both. I want you to like so you don't shoot me," she grinned._

"Okay, here you are, Box number 25," Marty said, jarring Maxie out of her trance. The sooner she got out of there the better. She quickly entered the code and the little door opened. Maxie carefully laid the jewelry box in the opening and closed the door.

* * *

"Barrett," Coop answered his phone.

"Agent Barrett, we have a mission for you," the voice on the other end of the line said, "We have learned that Jerry Jacks is putting together a new team as we speak. Our Intel reported that he has his eye on some goods that are being stored in the Metro Court safe. His plan is to assemble a team of the most qualified criminals in order to steal it. As of right now we do not know was the vault contains that Jacks is after, but we hope that you can uncover that for us."

"I'll do what ever you need me to do," he replied.

"The Agency needs you to infiltrate Jacks' team. In order to do this you must gain his trust, you worked with him before so it should not be too difficult."

"There's a problem with that sir. I'm a dead man," Coop reminded the man.

"So was he. Be expecting paperwork on the new mission soon," the line went dead.

Just then somebody knocked. Coop walked over to the door and peered through the peephole. He had one hand on the doorknob and his other hand on his gun, which was tucked into the back of his pants. He opened the door.

"Agent Barrett, your new mission," the man on the other side said as he handed Coop a large envelope with a seal, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Coop said taking the envelope and then closed the door.

After he read everything that was in the envelope, Coop gathered all the paper and placed them into an empty metal trashcan, he took a match and dropped it into the can. He watched as the flames engulfed every piece of paper and waited until there was nothing left but ash before he put the fire out.

His first move, contact Jerry Jacks.


	2. Chapter 2

[A/N] Sorry this took so long to post. This chapter is kind of short, the next one will be longer...I promise :)

* * *

Jerry was standing on the pier when his cell phone began to ring. He looked at the caller I.D., it was not number he recognized.

"Hello," he answered.

"Is this James Craig?"

"Who's asking?" Jerry questioned. He hadn't used that name in a long time.

"Let's just say an old friend." the voice on the other line said. The voice was oddly familiar, but Jerry had a hard time placing it

"You see I don't have any friends, and I am not this James Craig. I'm afraid you have the wrong number,"

"No, I know I have the right number, it's just hard to determine what name you are going by these days."

Jerry still couldn't recognize the voice and he was getting agitated, "Who the hell are you," Jerry shouted into his phone.

Coop came around the corner and walked up behind Jerry, "Three."

Jerry spun around and faced Coop. He did not look as shocked as Coop had thought he might be. Instead his lips curled into an evil grin.

"Well, well, well. Look who is back in town. Last time I checked you were found swinging from your ceiling fan." Jerry never ceased to be dramatic when he spoke.

"And the last time I checked, you had died in an explosion at sea," Coop's face was emotionless.

"It seems we are both dead men walking," Jerry chuckled, "So what brings you back to Port Charles?"

"There's word out there that you are putting together a team. I want in on it."

"Oh is that right. And where did you hear this little tidbit of information," he questioned Coop.

"I heard whispers on the streets," he looked at Jerry, "So what do you say, you going to let me in on it?"

"That all depends on what your willing to do. I suppose those..." he paused and smirked, "_whispers_ you spoke of told you where this is going down."

"The Metro Court." Coop stated matter-of-factly.

"And that won't be a problem for you?" Jerry asked, examining Coop's face, seeing if it sparked any emotion.

"I don't see why it should be," Coop replied indifferently.

Jerry grinned, "Well then Mr. Barrett, it seems we have a deal," he shook Coop's hand, "Meet me at Warehouse Sixteen tonight at seven."

"I'll be there."

* * *

Maxie was at her final dress fitting. The Crimson Gala was tomorrow night, words could not express how excited she was. It was the first time Crimson had hosted a party this extravagant with so many high profile people in attendance. She would be in the same room as the world's most renowned designers and influential people in the fashion industry. If that weren't enough to put butterflies in your stomach, Maxie would be wearing the Harry Winston blue sapphire and diamond necklace. She was terrified yet exhilarated at the same time. The entire gala was inspired by the piece of jewelry that would be resting around her neck.

Her dress was a long gown with an asymmetrical bodice that drape over her right shoulder. The royal blue silk tiers cascaded down to the floor where it fell into a pool around her feet, the epitome of perfection. She spun around in front of the mirror, taking in the beauty of the gown draped over her slim figure. Just then the door to her fitting room cracked open.

"Miss Jones," a squeaky voice inquired.

"Yes." Maxie replied.

"There is gentleman here to see you,"

Maxie immediately got giddy, "Please send him in." She stood in the center of the raised platform in the room, so the mirrors behind her reflected every angle of the dress.

Dr. Matthew Hunter entered the room, when he looked up at her his heart almost stopped. Some days it was hard to believe the woman standing before him was with him. He knew from the moment she threatened to have Nikalos Cassadine take his fellowship away that she was the only girl for him. It took a lot of rejection and perseverance to get just one date with her, but that was all he needed.

"You sure do clean up nice," he smirked.

"Well at least one of us has to look presentable," she quipped, still smiling.

"You look absolutely stunning. All eyes will be on you at the Gala," Matt said as she stepped off of the platform.

Maxie's smile evaporated, "All except yours," she stuck out her bottom lip in an exaggerated pout. "I still can't believe my boyfriend is making me go stag to Crimson's first Gala tomorrow night."

"You know I have a surgery booked."

"I know," she replied, "Your patients are so selfish," Maxie said only half joking.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," he grinned. Matt lifted her chin with his hand and kissed her lips.

"Oh trust me, I will never let you live this one down," she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

She gazed into the eyes of the man who would never hurt her the way she had hurt so many people in her life. They had been together for almost a year and a half; that had to be some kind of record for Maxie. She wasn't used to people sticking around this long, normally she would have run them off by now, if they weren't already dead. The truth is, she liked it. She liked feeling special to someone. That's what she had searched for her entire life, and she'd find it for a snapshot of a second and then it was gone. When she was with Matt she believed that this time it would last longer, maybe even for the rest of her life.

Matt was different from the other guys she had dated. First of all he wasn't a cop, which was a small comfort to her since both cops she was seriously involved with were now six feet below the surface. He didn't have that bad-boy quality that she was normally drawn to; in fact he was an all around good guy. Sometimes he could be arrogant and egotistical, but it comes with the territory of being a neurosurgeon. She loved him.

Still, she couldn't push a thought out of her mind. It was an ominous shadow that followed her, and she could not escape its presence. Would he eventually be added to her list of casualties? After all, in her experience no one stays together forever, no matter how much forever is promised. That didn't stop her from believing in a future with Matt.


End file.
